Ice machine



F. w. KNOWLES 2,419,953

ICE MACHINE Filed May 3, 1.940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'INVENTOR Frank W.Knowles .BY fda/M@ ATTORNEY.'

Patented May 6, 1947 ICE MACHINE Frank W. Knowles, Seattle, Wash.,assigner to a corporation of Wash- Beltice Corporation, ingtonApplication May 3, 1940, Serial No. 333,135

7 Claims. l

The present invention relates to heat transfer devices. In particularthe device relates to the art of Irefrigeration, but some of thefeatures of the invention are of a broader use, such as in the drier andconcentration arts.

In more particular, the present device is an improvement on myco-pending application for improvement in Ice machine, Serial Number262,869, filed March 20, 1939, which relates to the art of solidifyingthin sheets of material upon a surface and of removing the material fromthat surface. The only example of material solidified that will beconsidered in the present instance is that of water, but others, as setforth in the above-menu tioned application, may be acted upon.

In the device disclosed in the above-mentioned application, material wassolidified upon a flexible member, such as a belt having a. continuoussurface, and placed around and in contact with a refrigerated or heateddrum, and removed from the exible member by the exing thereof. In thepresent device, a. discontinuous flexible member is used in place of acontinuous member. Such a member may be a reticulated belt in the formof a woven screen, a .perforated sheet, or other` open construction.Such a. device is of advantage as compared to a solid belt because,among other things, of the increased rate of heat conductivity.

Itis an object of the present invention to devise a heat transfer deviceusing a heat transfer drum and a reticulated belt which may be used forthe solidication of material upon the belt.

It is another object of .the present invention to construct such adevice wherein the drum will be so insulated that the heat transferthrough the end will be of such a low value that the material beingacted upon and which comes in contact with the ends will not besolidified thereupon.

It is a further object of the present invention to devise a reticulatedor open-work belt that may be easily and completely freed from materialsolidified thereon.

A further object is the provision of means for insuring the completeremoval of solidified material from the reticulated belt.

A further object is the provision of a shield between the belt and thedrum at the place where the belt leaves the drum, to prevent solidifiedmaterial from contacting the drum at that place.

A further object of the present invention is the Another object of thepresent invention 1s the provision of a trunnion for one end of the heattransfer drum, that may be quickly detached from the drum to allow easyremoval of the belt, and of the provision of a support for the othertrunnion that will hold the drum in place while the support of the firsttrunnion is removed.

The word reticulated is used in` the sense of a device having the formof a net, that is, lines,`

veins, or :fibers crossing one another 'and having relatively largespaces between the lines. as shown in the drawings.

The phrase open-work-is used generically, and includes either a.reticulated structure, as above, or one of unconnected character,i viz;wherein cross members are not provided.

The word sheet is used in the present disclosure to refer to anopen-Work or reticulated or,v solid constructionof the belt wherein thethick` ness is less than about 1% of an'inch, a standard usual in sheetmetal work to distinguish from plates.

These objects and others are attained by mounting a heat transfer drumupon trunnions supported in pedestals, placing around the drum areticulated or open-work and endless belt which is longer thanthe/circumference of the drum, and by applying to the belt while it isin contact with the drum the material to be solidified. The material maybe applied to the belt by placing the belt and drum in a tank of thematerial. To prevent solidifcation of v:the material onythe ends of thedrum, and to reduce the transfer of heat through the ends, the ends areinsulated and the face of the drum extended beyond the confining ends ofthe drum and over the insulation. Material is removed from the belt bychanging the thereto by soldering, brazing, welding,

the material forming the surface of a resilient roll situated to bearagainst the belt just after passing over the guide roll. The solidifiedmaterial is prevented from passing from the belt back onto the drum by ashield placed between the belt and drum over the area where the belt isled from the drum' by the guide roll.

Devices constructed in accordance with the above, and which will attainthe objects of the present invention, are hereinafter described indetail and shown in the .accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my device.

Figure 2 is a plan view in section of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a full section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

In the drawings, the device illustrated comprises a base I supportingtwo pedestals 2 and 3 which carry on their upper ends the bearing 4 and5 for supporting therein the trunnions 6 and 1 which support the heattransfer drum'8. The left trunnion 6 has a tapered ilt in a socket 8secured to the left end of the drum. The trunnion is secured against endmovement by means of flanges I and Il. The ange Il is arranged to besecuredto the socket 9 as by bolts, to prevent relative movement betweenthe trunnion and the socket. The pedestal 2 supporting the trunnion 6with the sliding tapered t with the drum, is secured to the base I insuch a manner that it may be readily disconnected therefrom, as by theuse of cap screws or bolts, and the assembly of pedestal and trunnionremoved from the base and the drum. The right bearing is rigidly securedto the pedestal 3, the pedestal 3 is rigidly secured to the base I, andboth the bearing and the pedestal are constructed to carry the entireweight of the drum and accessories in their normal position without theaid of the other bearing and pedestalvwhen the other trunnion I6 isremoved froni the socket 9.

The purpose of having one ofthe pedestals and trunnions readilyremovable from the base and drum, is to provide for the easy and rapidplacing and lremoval of a flexible open-work belt such as thereticulated belt I2 illustrated, which is usually made endless. Thisbelt is made up of a plurality of parallel Warp wires I3 which arespaced from a half to three inches apart, and of a. plurality of weftwires I4 laid over thewarp. The warp and weft are secured together byspot welding, brazing, or soldering, and are spaced apa'rt about thesame distance as the warp wires. Steel wire or other suitable alloysvmay be used. The smoother the wire, the less will be the tendency ofthe solidiiied material to adhere thereto. This also applies to thematerial making up the face. of the drum, a chromium or nickel facebeing desirable. This belt is also designated as a sheet to distinguishit from certain grid-like devices for making ice blocks or cubes, suchas shown in the patent to Short, Number 2,054,101, issued Sept. 15, 1936(Cl. 62-105).

The trunnion 1 which is permanently secured to the drum, is hollow andhas fitted inside thereof two concentric pipes, the inner pipe I5carries the incoming and the outer pipe I6 the outgoing yroll I9, forcleaning the belt.

va. shield 2| which will cover that portion.

. 4 refrigerant. The refrigerant pipes are stationary, that is, they donot rotate with the drum. A packing gland I1 maintains a tight Jointbetween the trunnion and the outer pipe le. A sprocket I8 is secured toand around the trunnion 1 for rotating the drum.

Placed adjacent to and parallel to the drum and at one side thereof is asmall roll le for guiding the belt away from the drum for a small Dartof the length of the belt. This roll is usually provided with a hardsurface, such as cast iron. A second roll 20 is provided adjacent theguide 'I'his roll is provided with a resilient face such as soft rubber,and is tensioned against vthe belt a suicient amount to embed the wiresof the belt therein. Over that surface of the drum which is free of thebelt, that lying in under the rolls, is placed This shield prevents thecontact of a solidified material with the drum after removal from thebelt.

The two rolls and the shield are supported in plates 22, 23, and 2|. Theplate 22 is supported on the left pedestal 2 and the plates 23 and 24are supported in parallel spaced relationship on the right pedestal 3.The bearings 25 for the ends of the shafts supporting the rolls areplaced in slots cutin these plates which will allow adjustment of thesemembers to take place. The double plate is used on the right end so thatthis end may be very rigid and support the rolls and guard withoutmaterial displacement thereof when the left support is removed. Thebearings in the left support may have an entering taper to guide theroll and guard shafts into them. 'I'he position of the bearings may beadjusted by means of screws 2B secured to the plates and to the bearingblocks. The tensioning roll and the guard may be adjusted radially, andthe cleaning roll may be moved normal to the belt.

The ends of the drum are double with space between the two walls of eachend for the placing therein of insulating material 21. The end 23carrying the socket 9 for the removable trunnion is a iiat sheet weldedor riveted to the end of the drum. Spaced from this end sheet is anothersheet 29 which should be welded in place. Be tween the two sheets asuitable insulating material 21 is placed to reduce the transfer of heatthrough the end of the drums. The other end of the drum is closed by aplate 30 which may be similar to the sheet 28 for the other end. Thefixed trunnion 1 used for driving the drum passes through this end sheetand is secured thereto. Spaced inwardly from this end sheet 30 andsecured thereto is a conical sheet 3|. The trunnion 1 also passesthrough this sheet 3l and is secured and sealed thereto. The spacebetween these end sheets is also filled with the insulating material 21.The purpose of giving the conical end plate its particular shape is toreduce the transfer of heat along the trunnion and the pipes therein. Ifthe inner end plate were to be flat and secured to the drum at the sameplace as the conical end, the transfer of heat through the trunnionwould be greater than with the conical plate. Yet with the conical platethe heat conductive area of the drum has not been reduced. With the twoplates of the double end secured to the xed trunnion, the strength ofthe drum with respect to support from one end is greatly increased overthat had with a single end.

A tank 32, is placed on the base and is made of such a size that it willreceive the lower portion aaiaese and brittle. The ice .Eil

will not form on the face of the drum adjacent m the ends thereof, norwill it form on the ends of the drum. because of the restriction in eachend of the drum to the free flow of the heat transfer one end alone, oras shown, with the insulation between the double end. If ice were toform around the edges of the drum such would be difiicult to remove. Thebelt need not extend out ice small particles may adhere to the beltafter it passes the guide roll. These small pieces are removed from thebelt by soft and resilient roll which ls pressed against This embeddingaction causes the small particles adhering to the belt to be strippedtherefrom. The shield 2i between the belt and the drum prevents thesolidified material from falling upon the drum and being caught betweenthe drum and an element of the belt. The positions of the guide andcleaning rolls and the shield may be adjusted by moving their supportingends in the slots in the plates 22, 23, and 24. The device has beenconstructed so that the belt may be easily removed and replaced. This isdone by unbolting the left pedestal 2 from the base I and the flange l lthen moving the pedestal away from the drum. This action will not onlyremove the left support of the drum but of the rolls and the shield. Asdisclosed, the right supports have been made strong enough andi'ieidenough to carry the whole weight. Upon loosening the rolls the belt maybe easily removed and Upon tensioning the rolls, the'pedestal may bereplaced. Any slight deiiection of the drum will be remedied by thetaper in the socket 9 which will force the drum into the alignment whenthe bolts between the socket and the ange are from the socket 9, and

the rolls and the shield are tapered to similarly force the shafts intoalignment.

Ice made wit the herein described device is in small liakes, freeflowing, and colder than the usual block ice.

Having thus described the construction and operation of mypdevice, Iclaim:

1. In a heat transfer device: a drum adapted to refrigeratable contain arefrigerating medium,

will be removed from said drum.

2. In a heat transfer device: a heat transfer drum, a reticulated sheetformed of wire and constituting a belt around and in contact with saiddrum, means for rotating said drum and for moving said belt therewith,liquid operation of the device will be removed from said drum.

3. In a heat transfer device: a heat transfer drum an open-work memberaround and in contact with said drum, means for rotating said materialadhering lto said member.

4. In a heat transfer device: a. refrigeratable drum adapted to containa refrigerating medium,

said drum to force therefrom material adhering the drum;

7. A machine for the freezing of ice comprising a rigid, rotatable drum;means for refrigerating said drum; a second drum spaced from the rstmentioned drum and rotatable about an axis drawn up. The entrances tothe bearings for parallel with the axis thereof; belting comprising 'i'ridges spaced apart wires trained about and engaging said drums; a layerof elastic material covering the second mentioned drum, the wires beingso tensi`oned about the drums and the elastic ma- .teriali being of suchthickness that the travel of the belting over the material causes theformation of depressions therein and of intervening l of sumcient heightto remove from said belting iceadhering thereto; means for supplying thesurface of the irst; mentioned drum with a liquid to be frozen thereon;and means for rotating said drums for the removal of the ice from thefirst mentioned drum by the wire belting and for the removal of ice fromthe beltingi.

FRANK w. KNWLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in. the Ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

